Spread (2009)

A sex comedy centered on a serial womanizer and his jilted lover.

Director:

David Mackenzie

Writers:

Jason Dean Hall (screenplay), Jason Dean Hall (story),

Stars:

Ashton Kutcher, Anne Heche, Margarita Levieva

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ashton Kutcher	...	Nikki
Anne Heche	...	Samantha
Margarita Levieva	...	Heather
Sebastian Stan	...	Harry
Ashley Johnson	...	Eva
Sonia Rockwell	...	Christina
Rachel Blanchard	...	Emily
Shane Brolly	...	Prince Stelio
Eric Balfour	...	Sean
Maria Conchita Alonso	...	Ingrid
Derek Carter	...	Delivery Guy
Jordan Black	...	Kevin
Dani Levine	...	Nadia
Sarah Buxton	...	Helen
Peter Marc Jacobson	...	Plastic Surgeon

Storyline

In Los Angeles, Nikki is homeless, car-less and closing in on 30, but he's amoral, good-looking, and adept in the sack, moving from one wealthy woman of 35 or 40 to another, a kept boy-toy. His newest gig, with Samantha, an attorney whose house overlooks L.A., is sweet, although it's unclear how long she'll put up with him. Then Nikki meets Heather, a waitress. Is the player being played, or might this be love? What will Nikki discover?

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Plot Keywords:

player | lover | waitress | womanizer | sex | 

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Taglines:

It's a business doing pleasure.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [fr] Official site [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 July 2009 (France)

Also Known As:

L.A. Gigolo

Filming Locations:

Royal Carlton - 5611 Carlton Way, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$122,948 (USA) (14 August 2009)

Gross:

$249,590 (USA) (4 September 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Barbarian Films, Katalyst Films, Oceana Media Finance

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ashton Kutcher prepared for his role by speaking with Warren Beatty who played a similar character in Shampoo. He also read Neil Strauss's non-fiction book "The Game", which is about pickup artists.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Nikki: My whole life it was obvious I was going to end up in this city. I don't want to be arrogant here, but I'm an incredibly attractive man. I can't help it, I don't try to be, I just am. When I was a kid my mother's best friend used to tell me that I was gonna be a little heart breaker. Turns out she was right. Her husband came home from work one day and found us fuckin' on the Stairmaster. Los Angeles, California - that's where all the beautiful little heart breakers go to live the ...

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The Men Who Stare at Goats/A Christmas Carol/Precious (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Think of You"
Performed by Carney
Written by Reeve Carney
Published by RJC Music (BMI)
Produced and Mixed by David Kahne
Courtesy of DAS Label/Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Very satisfying and well acted; I enjoyed it

While Spread certainly wasn't a popular film when it was released, it didn't fly by my eye and it caught my attention for some reason, and I had been wanting to see it for awhile. When I got to view it, I was actually pretty satisfied with what I saw. The movie itself is quite well done and though it's apathetic and dull around the edges, the main story is strong and effective. The acting from both Ashton Kutcher and Anne Heche is great and believable, in my opinion, and though all the characters certainly weren't breathtakingly astonishing, they were actually well done enough to where I enjoyed them and I thought they were interesting and likable.

The real redeeming qualities this film has are an interesting plot, and Anne Heche & Ashton Kutcher. While the plot, as I've said, is a little tiresome, it never fails at being interesting and appealing. It pulled me in from the beginning because I got into Ashton Kutcher's character and I thought it kicked off to a very interesting start. Ashton Kutcher's character Nikki while being a bit tedious at times, as were most characters, was never really badly done and his and Anne Heche's character Samantha's chemistry together was amazing and their story is likable, and her character was probably my favorite because of the actress's portrayal, which leads me to another great aspect of this film; The performances.

Anne Heche was amazing as Samantha, and I really just found her performance genuinely likable and impressively delightful. Ashton Kutcher also did a pretty good job with Nikki and Margarita Levieva did alright with Heather, too, but the performances by and especially the chemistry between Heche and Kutcher was what I really enjoyed and for that I thought the first half of the film was stronger than the second half, which became kind of rushed and, how shall I say, dry, but still effective.

Nonetheless, this movie in my opinion is entertaining, interesting, well acted and it has a very poignant script. While it's certainly no masterpiece, and could've been done better in ways, it was still very satisfying and I enjoyed it. Not the best of 2009, and not one of the most popular, but it is a secret pleasure that I hope to get more people aware of.